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TESTIMONY: NFIB Warns That Tourism Improvement Districts Could Hurt Small Businesses

TESTIMONY: NFIB Warns That Tourism Improvement Districts Could Hurt Small Businesses

February 14, 2024 Last Edit: June 5, 2025

The legislation would 'essentially create a tax on top of a tax'

NFIB State Director Natalie Robinson told a House committee today that a bill creating tourism improvement districts to cover the cost of advertising and marketing would have an unintended impact on Main Street.

She told the House Ways and Means Committee that the measure, Senate Bill 61, would “essentially create a tax on top of a tax.”

“We’ve seen in our NFIB Small Business Economic Trends (SBET) survey that the first hit on inflation pressures are small business owners’ earnings which have been deteriorating for a while now,” Robinson said. “The second punch is when they can no longer sustain profits and they are left with no choice but to pass along those costs to their customer.”

Given that, she said, “Now is not the time to create more special taxing districts.” Click here for a full copy of Robinson’s written testimony.

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